Muncie Girls: “All we wanted to do was make an album that we liked”

An underground sensation in waiting, Muncie Girls are a band that matters.

Published: 10:05 am, July 19, 2016

“I don’t even know what I was doing with it,” admits Lande Hekt as talk turns to Muncie Girls’ debut album. “I didn’t have any expectations at all. All we wanted to do was make an album that we liked. I know everyone says that but it’s genuinely true.” Self-aware and honest to a fault, the band’s ‘From Caplan To Belsize’ is instantly loveable yet consistently intriguing. Talking politics, education, self-doubt and insecurity, it’s a record that offers hope and opposition in equal measures as Luke Ellis, Dean McMullen and Lande set about making something they believed in.

“People totally got it, sometimes more than even I got it. It’s been really cool, and there’s been a couple of younger girls who have got in touch, saying that they really liked it and that’s really choked me up. That’s my absolute dream, to have teenage girls who are going through the things that I went through relate to it in some way. Obviously it’s amazing that anyone likes it, but that’s really special.” After years of playing to their own circle, Muncie Girls have branched out. “We didn’t think that would happen and it’s been so great.”

The reaction to ‘From Caplan To Belsize’ was “definitely a step-up from previous releases,” she explains. “Certain people will relate to some of the lyrics and if they don’t, they’re basically not going to like the songs that much, or the songs won’t speak to them. You get some bands where everything just sounds great, the songs are so well put together that you don’t have to relate to them to like them, but I don’t think our songs are like that. The songs weren’t made for everyone, they were made because we wanted to make ‘em.”

"pull" text="We’re trying not to be gimmicky because that’s not what being in a band is about." ]

Normally bands don’t critique a record until they’ve got a newer version to promote, but Muncie Girls aren’t one for games. “I’m not going to say all the songs are brilliant because they’re not fucking brilliant. We’re just normal people and we’ve got some songs. They’re not great songs, they’re just alright songs and we’re not going to pretend they’re anything else. Nevertheless, we’re still really proud of them and we enjoy playing them.”

As doom and gloom as Lande sounds (trust us, their debut is brilliant, Album Of The Year-type stuff) this self-critique is actually “a really positive thing,” she says. “Looking back and wanting to do lots of different things and getting more imaginative is just going to help the new record that we’re already writing. We’ve got a bunch of songs for it and it’s really helpful to have a bar that we’ve set for ourselves and to try and raise it for next time.”

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And try they are. “We’ve practiced four songs but I’ve got a bunch more. It’s really hard to find time to practice new stuff because every time we get together, we’ve got this show or that show that we need to rehearse for. There’s never really time to just mess around like we used to, which is sad.” Making sure they don’t get carried away with touring and wake up twelve months from now, completely burnt out, the band are setting aside time over the next few months to just hang out, and write for fun. It’s the whole reason they started the band in the first place. That said, there are still plenty of tours

“We’re not really one of those live bands that people talk about like, ‘oh the singer threw the amp over and broke her leg’ or ‘something really wild happened’, ‘cause really we’re just playing pop songs and we just love playing those songs. I can’t stand that sort of shit and that’s not really what we’re about. We’re trying not to be gimmicky because to me, that’s not what being in a band is about. People have said I don’t really jump around that much on stage but it’s one of those things where, I’m not a rock star and I’ve never thought of myself in that way. I just like being a really normal person who’s just onstage.

“And also, being onstage is scary so doing anything wild onstage isn’t really in the sphere of what I’m capable of. I think it’s wild enough to get up and do it because it is a scary thing. Our live show is an honest thing for me. I let out a lot in my songs and it’s a big deal to be singing things I would never talk about. Hopefully the fact we’re playing songs that we hold dear comes across.” And you don’t need anything else but that.